There is so much more to Holland, Michigan that just tulips. In this episode, Linda Hart, Executive Director of the Holland Convention and Visitor’s Bureau guides us on a trip through the various festivals that take place throughout the year. Holland has a very diverse culture and their goal is to celebrate them all.
Links:
- Discover Holland
- Tulip Time
- Juneteeth
- Pride Festival
- Latino Festival
- Celtic Festival
- International Festival
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Transcript
We love our festivals, we love our parades.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And we also recognize that we today, while we were founded by the Dutch,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:we are very culturally diverse today.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so we like to celebrate, those other cultures throughout the year.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a Juneteenth Festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a Pride festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a fiesta for our Latino population.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a Celtic festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Then in the fall we have an international festival, just so that we wanna
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:make sure that we round it all up.
Cliff Duvernois:Hello everyone and welcome back to Ordinary
Cliff Duvernois:People, Extraordinary Things.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.
Cliff Duvernois:We are continuing our series into the great city of Holland, Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:Now, when we think about Holland, we have this mental image of tulips.
Cliff Duvernois:There's the big windmill.
Cliff Duvernois:But Holland is so much more than just that.
Cliff Duvernois:There are so many festivals, activities and sites that Holland has
Cliff Duvernois:to offer throughout the entire year.
Cliff Duvernois:Holland is also connected to a major cultural icon, which I
Cliff Duvernois:definitely did not know about.
Cliff Duvernois:To guide us on our exploration of Holland.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm sitting today with Linda Hart, the executive director of the
Cliff Duvernois:Holland Convention and Visitors Bureau, or the Holland CVB.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda, how are you?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I'm doing great.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:How are you?
Cliff Duvernois:I'm doing awesome.
Cliff Duvernois:Thank you for asking.
Cliff Duvernois:Why don't you share with us a little bit about where you're
Cliff Duvernois:from, where you grew up.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Sure.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So I grew up in Columbus, Ohio.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:so for all, everybody in
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Michigan, I am a Buckeye, so don't boo his me.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I actually
Cliff Duvernois:keep the Bohi out
Cliff Duvernois:Linda Hart, Holland CVB: I appreciate that.
Cliff Duvernois:Actually, I came to Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:There's a dude ranch about an hour north of here called the
Cliff Duvernois:Double J Ranch in Golf Resort.
Cliff Duvernois:I've never heard of this.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Yes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:it was an adult ranch that started in the thirties and, as all of these
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:adults, they got married, they had kids, and then they ended up opening,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:what they called the Back 40.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so it became a family, ranch and golf resort, uh, little town called Rothbury,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:just again, about an hour north of here.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Well, anyway, went on vacation up there and I rode a horse.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And I was in the banking industry in Columbus and I rode a horse and I thought,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:this is what I wanna do with my life.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And I went back to Columbus and I quit my job.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And I found a job mucking stalls and an equestrian facility.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:11 years later,
Cliff Duvernois:Sweet Moses.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:this?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I know 11 years later I was the, equestrian director
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:at the, uh, at the ranch.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Uh, I, I'll tell you, one of the best jobs I've ever.
Cliff Duvernois:Wow.
Cliff Duvernois:Let's, so that, I'll admit I've never heard that before.
Cliff Duvernois:That's really great.
Cliff Duvernois:Going from banking to mucking stalls.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Right?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Well, exactly right.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Six figures to, you know, $3 and 15 cents, which was probably what
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:the minimum wage was at that point.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:earlier that, you know, what,:Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:Your.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:and so I met my husband up there and so he was, um, he
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:was a Hope graduate uh here in Holland.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so we relocated to Holland and that's how I ended up working
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:here at the Visitors Bureau.
Cliff Duvernois:So was that the first job you took when you came to the area?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Actually, no.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:My husband and I bought into a restaurant called Boatworks Waterfront Restaurant.
Cliff Duvernois:Ah.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Ah.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:He in food and beverage.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So we bought half the restaurant, the operations side of it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:we did that for six years.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I had a really good appreciation of how hard it is to work in food and beverage.
Cliff Duvernois:Sweet Moses.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Absolutely right.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And after six years I was like, I can't do this anymore.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I mean, you, You, appreciate it, but it is super, super hard work.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:Um,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:and so then I did a very, very brief stint in real estate.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So no judging, very, very brief
Cliff Duvernois:I think everybody's done a stint in real estate,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:estate.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And I, um, I was just looking for some, additional work and the visitors
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:bureau offered me some part-time work.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And three months later I was, I was full-time there.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so I did community outreach for nine years, no, actually, no, I'm so sorry.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Six years.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And then the pandemic hit.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Uh, The previous executive director retired.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And um, so I stepped into the role as interim.
Cliff Duvernois:So just for our audience, Tell us a little bit about what the
Cliff Duvernois:Convention and Visitors Bureau does.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Sure.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So the CVB or the Convention and Visitors Bureau, we are mandated
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:under a Michigan Public Act.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's actually Public Act Number 59, so it falls under the M E D C, which
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:is the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and which allows us
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:as a CVB to collect an assessment through all of our lodging properties.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So any, any hotel or motel that has at least 10 rooms, transient
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:rooms collects 5% for us it's 5%.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And then passes that on to us.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We use those dollars to market Holland as a destination.
Cliff Duvernois:And what I'd like to do is kind of talk to you a little bit
Cliff Duvernois:about just the city of Holland in general.
Cliff Duvernois:Maybe a little bit about the history and the drive towards tourism.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Sure.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:you know, Holland as a destination.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:That's our role is to market Holland as a destination.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And we're very unique because we're named Holland.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We were founded by the Dutch.
Cliff Duvernois:There's a lot of brand equity there.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:A lot of brand equity and you know,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:and we're fortunate because a lot of communities don't have that.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We really don't have that.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So we are very, very fortunate.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:d was settled by the Dutch in:Linda Hart, Holland CVB:A minister by the name of, Van Raalte.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:He was ex-communicated from the state church in the Netherlands.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So immigrated to the United States.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Landed in West Michigan.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:They were actually on their way to Wisconsin, landed in West Michigan.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Thought the area looked very much like it did in the Netherlands
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Yes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Was wooded.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:There was water and they decided to settle here.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And ever since then, as the story goes, Then that's where we still are today.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Um, Hope College was founded by, Van Raalte, was used to be called Pioneer
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:College, which was founded in:Linda Hart, Holland CVB:that was, it was in a, you know, when, when Van Raalte came here, he had
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:three initiatives to educate children, build a community of faith, and build
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:a prosperous business community.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And I'd say he did pretty well.
Cliff Duvernois:I think so.
Cliff Duvernois:I'd have to agree with that assessment.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You know, and, and Holland's history.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:if everybody remembers:Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Holland burned on that same Sunday in October.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:80% of Holland was burned in two hours.
Cliff Duvernois:That's spooky.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:That's
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:true.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Yeah.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Right.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Um, and there were three other fires in the region.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Peshtigo, Wisconsin is the, um, that is the, if you ask Alexa, or if you ask
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:your smart speaker to say, what is the greatest American, fire in history, she's
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:gonna say it's in Peshtigo, Wisconsin.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:2,500 people perished over a million acres were charred.
Cliff Duvernois:Wow.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Manistee, Michigan burned on the same
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:day in addition to Holland.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So, you know, that's kind of part of our, that's, that's part of our history.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:But what's really cool is that our museum, they do historical walking
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:tours and one of the walking tours that they do is a path of the fire.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:This building burned, this building survived.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:This is what happened.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:This is what happened.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And if you go into the museum, there's a lot of, furniture artifacts that the
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Dutch, they buried them in the sand in order cuz the fire was moving so quickly.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So I mean that's kind of, you know, it, it's those kinds of
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:events and stories that our office gets to share with visitors.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Cuz they'll come into our office and they'll be like, what is there to do?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's like, what are you interested?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You wanna go to the beach?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You wanna learn something Dutch?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You wanna learn history, you wanna go shopping, you wanna go dining?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So it's, so that's kind of everything that our community has.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We grasp that so that we can turn around and share those
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:stories when people come in.
Cliff Duvernois:So as somebody who is fanatical about stories, I have to
Cliff Duvernois:give you credit cuz a lot of the times when I'm out there talking with people,
Cliff Duvernois:they only wanna focus on the good.
Cliff Duvernois:sure.
Cliff Duvernois:Right.
Cliff Duvernois:The only one focus on, oh, everybody's happy and all the smiles.
Cliff Duvernois:So the fact that you're actually making it a point to include the fact.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah, Holland burned.
Cliff Duvernois:Mm-hmm.
Cliff Duvernois:You know, and that, and just the, the fact that I'm trying to fathom these
Cliff Duvernois:people saying, Quick, bury the furniture in sand so it doesn't, you know, rather
Cliff Duvernois:than throw it on like a, the back of a carriage and try to drive it out with
Cliff Duvernois:horses, maybe they couldn't do that.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Right.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Well, you know, It's interesting that you say that because we, our office are
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:docents for the cruise ship industry.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have cruise ships
Cliff Duvernois:that that's right.
Cliff Duvernois:Do
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Great Lakes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Uh, they used to dock in Holland.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:At this point in time they don't.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We're hoping to get them back, but.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So we pick up the passengers cuz they dock in Muskegon and then we bring them down.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And, you know, as a, as a tourist office, it's always, we can always
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:talk about wooden shoes and windmills,
Cliff Duvernois:You know, Right.
Cliff Duvernois:the
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Dutch part of it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:But a lot of, a lot of folks that when they come in, they wanna know.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Why our community is as good as it is, wh what services do we have?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:How do we treat the homeless?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:How do we treat the mentally ill?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:How, what do we do with, how is, how is our energies, preserved?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have an anaerobic digester, you know, I mean, If you ever come into our town and
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:you see that, big, giant ball over there.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:People are like, what is that?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:That's the kind of information that you, we also wanna be able to share because at
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:the end of the day, Cliff, you might say, I wanna relocate to Holland, Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm thinking about it
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:because of what this community has to offer.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So it's kind of fun.
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, it definitely is.
Cliff Duvernois:It definitely is.
Cliff Duvernois:And one of the things that comes to mind, of course, with this is, and I
Cliff Duvernois:talked a little bit about this with, Matt Helmus is with the community
Cliff Duvernois:growing and everything that's going on here, a little bit about the
Cliff Duvernois:sustainability, of getting, can you, can you talk to us a little bit about that?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I can talk to a little bit about it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You know, we.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We are always as a re, I mean, I'm a citizen, I'm a resident here.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so we took advantage of our board of public works to be able to come into our
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:own home and give us an assessment on how, how energy efficient our home is.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so, you know, that that's just one example that the city
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:partnering with our Board of Public Works has programs in place to help
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:citizens become more sustainable.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We talked about snow melt.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We talked about, I don't know if you talked about snow melt, but
Cliff Duvernois:we talk about snow melt and,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:and what an
Cliff Duvernois:main
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:really, and you know, it's a closed loop system before
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:the water used to pour into Lake Macatawa.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's a closed loop system.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We talked about the anaerobic digester.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:What's doing that
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Hope College and the sustainability efforts that they have.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We even talk about, our tree canopy and inventorying our historic, our
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:heritage trees, you know, old, old trees, and how to preserve those both
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:on our public and in our private spaces.
Cliff Duvernois:And with that, we're gonna take a quick
Cliff Duvernois:break to thank our sponsors.
Cliff Duvernois:When we come back, we're going to explore more of these amazing
Cliff Duvernois:festivals that are going on.
Cliff Duvernois:A little something for everyone.
Cliff Duvernois:We're also gonna learn more about how Holland is connected to a major cultural
Cliff Duvernois:and American icon, and what they are doing to celebrate that connection.
Cliff Duvernois:We will see you after the break.
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Cliff Duvernois:Hello everyone and welcome back to Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.
Cliff Duvernois:Today we are continuing to explore one of the top destinations in
Cliff Duvernois:the great state of Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:That would be Holland helping us with that monumental task.
Cliff Duvernois:Is Linda Hart, the executive director of the Holland cvb.
Cliff Duvernois:Now, before the break, we spent a little bit of time talking about Holland's
Cliff Duvernois:history, both the good and the bad, and we hinted at one of Holland's biggest
Cliff Duvernois:festivals that would be Tulip Time.
Cliff Duvernois:And I do want to talk a bit more about that, but I also know
Cliff Duvernois:that Holland has so much more.
Cliff Duvernois:To offer besides Tulip time.
Cliff Duvernois:So Linda, if you would please talk to us a little bit more about Tulip
Cliff Duvernois:time, and that's then let's move on to some of the other great festivals
Cliff Duvernois:and events that Holland has to offer.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Sure.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:so you probably heard the story of Tulip Time with Lida Rodgers and you
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:know, we've been, we will celebrate 93 years of the festival this year.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:5 million tulips.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You know, It's interesting because we're known as the city of Tulips, right?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:People associate Holland, Michigan with tulips.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Oh, I've heard of Michigan.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:They have a big tulip festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Well, little known fact is that before we were known for the City of Tulips,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:we were known as the City of Churches.
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, wow.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We had pre Tulip Time, 170 churches representing
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:49 denominations, 170 churches.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We're not a very large community.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I mean, city of Holland, 35, 30 4,000 residents.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Greater Holland area 111, 112,000.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So 170 churches.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And I mean, that's today.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:When, think about today, you know, not back in, the turn of the century.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:The 19 hundreds.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:today we have I think 140 churches representing
Cliff Duvernois:that's still a good number
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Only two Catholic churches that we have in
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:our community, which is interesting.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:But celebrating the festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We love our festivals, we love our parades.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And we also recognize that we today, while we were founded by the Dutch,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:we are very culturally diverse today.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so we like to celebrate, those other cultures throughout the year.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a Juneteenth Festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a Pride festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a fiesta for our Latino population.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We have a Celtic festival.
Cliff Duvernois:Just to take a step back before, before we hit the
Cliff Duvernois:record button, you were saying that the Latino population, the 30%,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:30% of our population is Latino.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's the largest growing population that we have, in our community.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So it's very, very cool, and, well, I won't say this is a, we have
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:a very large, senior population.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So our heated streets and sidewalks, we ha we get a lot of snowbirds.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We will have dual residences and because downtown is so walkable and if you ever
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:walk downtown, you will see a lot of housing that's dedicated to 55 and over.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Which just, you know, which makes it ums.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I, guess
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:you're, you can, you can almost meet anybody downtown really at
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:the end, at any given day because of how culturally diverse we are.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So, Yes, so Celtic Festival and then in the fall we have an international
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:festival, just so that we wanna make sure that we round it all up.
Cliff Duvernois:So let's go back and let's, let's talk a little bit about
Cliff Duvernois:some of these festivals you mentioned before about a Celtic festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Yeah.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:that was a new festival that we started last year, or, well, that
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:the Celtic of the group of guys, they just, um, they're like, Nope,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:we need to have our own festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And, they got Guinness as a sponsor.
Cliff Duvernois:Nice.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:their
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:They're only sponsor.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:They have what's called a Kaylee the night before on a Friday night.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So it's a big dance party.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Well, you know, It's, uh, live music and, over 21 type of activity.
Cliff Duvernois:Certainly.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And then, uh, the next day are all Highland games.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So if you can think of a Highland game, they're doing it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So I mean, if you think, okay, let me ask you a Question, What would
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:you think of as a Highland game?
Cliff Duvernois:Uh,
Cliff Duvernois:Linda Hart, Holland CVB: Throwing the big stumps.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:In the big rock.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:Feats of strength.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Strength, right?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Yes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:this is what guys do, and they get clans, from all over the region, who
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:will come to Holland and participate.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And then they've got all the dancers, the clogs, and then the vendors.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's really an immersive experience to, to participate in these kind
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:of festivals because you're, you're really seeing how, it's, you know,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:education, it's entertainment, and it's, it's more of awareness.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:and this is the culture of that particular community, which is kind of cool.
Cliff Duvernois:So when you're talking about the Celtic Irish
Cliff Duvernois:Festival, when does that take place?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So the Celtic Irish festival is in June.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's June 23 and 24th this year.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So it's always Friday, Saturday,
Cliff Duvernois:but it is in June.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It is in June.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Okay.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It is in as well as our Pride Festival and our Juneteenth Festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Fiesta is in July, and then the international festival is in October.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So we kind of round out, you know, all these festivals from May through October
Cliff Duvernois:with a nice international one.
Cliff Duvernois:what's a Fiesta festival like?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:it's, well, oh gosh, the fiesta is, it's kind of migrated
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:over, the course of the last decade or so.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Also used to include a film festival, like an independent Latino film festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:But a lot of dancing, a lot of live music.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:f.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:A lot of Mexican good mexican food,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:lot
Cliff Duvernois:Oh my God, I miss good Mexican
Cliff Duvernois:food.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:They're gonna throw in a car show because
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:you can't have a, you know, you can't really have a fiesta unless you're
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:gonna have a really souped up car
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda Hart, Holland CVB: Which Which is also very cool.
Cliff Duvernois:And that's, That f that festival takes place in downtown as well.
Cliff Duvernois:So we are anchored on the west end of downtown by our Holland
Cliff Duvernois:Civic Center, uh, which is a great facility, 55,000 square feet.
Cliff Duvernois:So some of the festival components are inside and the stage, in the atrium, which
Cliff Duvernois:is the opening area, and then also outside with some of the car show components.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's, I'll tell you, the food alone is reason to go.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes, and I would agree with that.
Cliff Duvernois:Like I said, I've been missing good Mexican food.
Cliff Duvernois:Tell us about the International festival.
Cliff Duvernois:What's that like?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So the International Festival is a festival
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:put on by, the city of Holland.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So that is out of all the festivals that is city owns that festival.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And that, again, is at the, is at the Civic Center, but
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:it's celebrating all cultures.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So you've got, you've got the Latino, you've got the, caucasian.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You have the, American Black, you have the African, you know, You have the Celtic.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You have the Irish.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So it's, and, and that festival and a lot of components with that are a lot
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:of presentations and demonstrations and dancing on the stage in addition to more
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:food, because that's all we like to do.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Apparently Hollanders love to eat because there's just, and, and so you're getting
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:a chance to taste what, what comes out of all these different regions of the world,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:but let live here in Holland, Michigan.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:There's a little, there's a passport that kids can do and they can
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, that's cute.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:the different countries and experience it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:that's kind of fun.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I mean, it's just, again, it's just showing the community pride,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:uh, for, for everybody here and celebrating that and bringing awareness
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:to, everybody in our community.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm liking this theme of the fact that, you
Cliff Duvernois:celebrate and you say we're Dutch.
Cliff Duvernois:But you're also coming out and saying, but you know what, we're also Latino.
Cliff Duvernois:We are also Celtic we are also
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Correct.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:That's exactly right.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Which is super important for us.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Because again, when that visitor comes in and thinks that we're all wearing Dutch
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:costumes or Dutch attire and wearing clump and wooden shoes, and our downtown
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:should look like, the Netherlands does.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:That's a good founding for us, but we're really who we are today.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You know, and, and
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Interesting fact is that when the.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:When the Dutch settled it, they weren't really necessarily
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:interested in all the architecture looking like that stepping gable,
Cliff Duvernois:right?
Cliff Duvernois:You
Cliff Duvernois:see,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:wasn't really until the:Linda Hart, Holland CVB:developers and builders started putting a nod to that style.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So some of our newer buildings that you see downtown, the Macatawa Bank
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:or the Courtyard by Marriott, you see that stepping Gable style, which
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:just are just nods to the Dutch heritage throughout our community.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And of course, Hope College.
Cliff Duvernois:I was pleasantly surprised in some of my research
Cliff Duvernois:here, and you actually mentioned it in some correspondence that
Cliff Duvernois:you and I had the Wizard of Oz exhibit that caught my attention.
Cliff Duvernois:Talk to us about
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Well, I would never realize in a million years that
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:there are so many folks, probably my age and probably your age, that have very,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:very fond memories of The Wizard of Oz.
Cliff Duvernois:Indeed.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So Frank Baum.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:He's the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:He vacationed here in Holland on Lake Michigan.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Lake Macatawa, uh, which is a more of a private, cottage
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:area just west of downtown.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So still part of the greater Holland area.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And, he had a cottage, it was called The Sign of the Goose.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So, um, His very first selling, successful book, he used the proceeds
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:and built a house, built a well, built a cottage on Lake Michigan,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:called the Sign of the Goose.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And it is said by his great-great grandson that while vacationing here during the
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:summer months, a lot of his inspiration came from, just vacationing here.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So there was a lot of yellow brick.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It was called the veneklasen brick, that it's of yellow brick.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:That was, you know, was the pavers for the streets and the sidewalks.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And and obviously it was the yellow brick road,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Right, right?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:The little girl that lived two doors down.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I believe her name was Dorothy.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:You know, and so there's a, there's a picture that, you know, that you,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I mean, you can look at anywhere on, uh, if you just Google it, uh,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:a Baum with a little girl, with a little monkey on her shoulder, those,
Cliff Duvernois:my goodness.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:kind of
Cliff Duvernois:Right.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:and so, We just wanted to pay homage to them
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:recognizing that there were ties to Baum and that extremely classic,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:classic story, here in Holland.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And we don't claim that he wrote the story here.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We don't claim that he wrote the whole book here because we know that there
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:was a lot of inspiration in his life of.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Anybody does the research, we're just saying, Hey, a little bit a
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:part of him and a part of his life.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And his history was here in Holland and we wanted to celebrate it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So we decided that, it was a collaboration with our office, the
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:city of Holland, the library, and a organization called Holland in Bloom.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And, to bring seven bronze sculptures, uh, life-size bronze sculptures to Holland.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:What the Holland in Bloom piece brought to the project was a book.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's called A Living Mosaic, uh, which is a book, so it's a 10 foot by 12 foot book.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Think Topiary, but instead of a topiary being alive, right, alive
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:tree that they, or a shrub that they, they trimmed to make a shape.
Cliff Duvernois:right?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:This is a steel frame and it's got, growing fabric with a
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:soil medium in it, and then 6,000 plants are put in this book and then, plants
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:that grow together like creeping plants.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And, the book is open and it has the image, uh, it's got the yellow brick road.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It says A Wonderful Wizard of Oz and it's got the castle all made outta plants,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:front and back, all made outta plants.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So there's two parts of the exhibit, again, kitty corner from each.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Across the street from the, city hall where we are right now in
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:a park called Centennial Park.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So the book is in Centennial Park.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's a seasonal book, right?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's got annuals.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It's got living plants on it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So it comes back into the city greenhouses.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:At the end of the season, all the plants come out, new plants are put
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:in the book grows again and comes out.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:The statues, because the, the, the statues are located at the library, which again,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:kitty corner along Yellow Brick Road.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:But because the project was so successful and so popular, we did
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:some fundraising for the project.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Uh, the,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:we wanted to, we did some fundraising.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Thought we will sell engraved bricks.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Okay, let's sell engraved bricks.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We were hoping that maybe we could, fundraise maybe $20,000
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:if we were lucky, maybe $50,000.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I mean, This is a big, big project as far as financial cost to it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:We raised a little under of a quarter of a million dollars.
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, beautiful.
Cliff Duvernois:I love that.
Cliff Duvernois:I Love, that.
Cliff Duvernois:Oh,
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And it, the, the amount of support and
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:love that people had for this story and wanted to be a piece of it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I mean, There were marriage proposals, um, you know, in
Cliff Duvernois:oh, that's cute in
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:these books.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:There were sa I mean, it was, it was amazing.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And then people were like, well, can I buy a statue?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I'm like, like, the really expensive, you know, we had, we ended up putting benches
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:all throughout the exhibit you know, that people ended up sponsoring and funding.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And so, I mean, it was, it was an amazing project.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And if any, if there's when you come to Holland in the summer, if you loved
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:that story or if you were scared of the monkeys or you cried when, Dorothy
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:was kidnapped by the witch, if, if there's any emotion that stirs in
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:that, you've gotta see this exhibit.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:And what's super, super cool about this is that this story is now lending itself
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:for everybody like us who love the story to tell our grandkids that story.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:So the, the story is getting a resurgence of popularity because of
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:this exhibit that happened to go in.
Cliff Duvernois:I bet you too, that from you know, from a, a generational
Cliff Duvernois:standpoint, being able to share this movie, this classic, with the younger
Cliff Duvernois:generation, be able to say, oh, by the way, the author, he actually lived here.
Cliff Duvernois:That's exactly the inspiration is here.
Cliff Duvernois:That's wonderful.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Yes.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:I mean, it is, it's, it's a cool story.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:It really is.
Cliff Duvernois:I know.
Cliff Duvernois:That's why I wanted to explore it.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda, this is, this is one of those interviews.
Cliff Duvernois:I could sit here all day and just pepper you with questions and I'm loving it.
Cliff Duvernois:So this just means that we're gonna have to come back.
Cliff Duvernois:For our audience, if anybody wants to connect with what's going on
Cliff Duvernois:in Holland, realizing that there's more than just the Tulip Festival.
Cliff Duvernois:There's all these other festivals going on, especially if you
Cliff Duvernois:wanna get your Celtic on.
Cliff Duvernois:Uh, What would be the best way for em to do that?
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Certainly visit our website@holland.org.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Uh, you can also follow us on Facebook or Instagram or even
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Pinterest at Discover Holland.
Cliff Duvernois:Wonderful.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule today to talk to us.
Cliff Duvernois:We really appreciate it.
Linda Hart, Holland CVB:Okay, thank you.
Cliff Duvernois:And for our audience, you can go to total michigan.com,
Cliff Duvernois:click on Linda's interview and see all the links that she mentioned above.
Cliff Duvernois:While you're there, make sure to sign up for our free email newsletter.
Cliff Duvernois:Also take some time to listen to the other two interviews that we
Cliff Duvernois:have done from Holland, Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:That would be with Mayor Nathan Bocks.
Cliff Duvernois:As well as Matt Helmus, who is the director of the Windmill Island Gardens.
Cliff Duvernois:We'll see you again next week with another great story.